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Tutorial
Welcome to UBoat! Beginnings Boarding the ship Once the game starts, you find yourself a fresh faced officer named Hilbert Kohler, standing before your assigned ship. It's time to report in to the Captain, Klaus Graf. The game starts in FPP (First Person Perspective), and there are three UI (User Interface) elements you'll need to be aware of. Your selected character info, your objective, and your Uboat status bar (more on the ship status later, however the green envelope will indicate there is an unread message in the ship's log). The selected character info box is in the lower left, and contains a bunch of information about the currently active officer you are controlling. In the top row, left to right, we have officer type (Iron Cross indicates a Leader type) and experience bar (currently at 0), name and health (Hilbert Kohler, 4 bars), a slot for worn personal worn equipment (currently empty), and a slot for backpack/carried item (currently contains a briefcase). The bottom row contains role menu (currently unassigned), character customization button, sleep button, and buttons to assign/relieve assistant crew. The objective list in the upper right contains your current mission ("Beginnings") and a list of active objectives. Objectives are indicated by a round green solid circle. Right now there is only one objective, "Meet the captain". To complete the current objective, walk up to the Captain (WASD controls, mouse look) and when you mouse shows the Talk symbol, left click to speak to the Captain. The officer standing next to him is an un-named General Admiral, who will be instructing us during the tutorial. You'll notice three pieces of information about Captain Graf when you hover your mouse over him. The first is his name, the second is his health (4 bars, same as you), and a blue line indicating his current energy/stamina, which is full. Captain Graf will greet you, and assign you two new objectives: # Leave the baggage at your bunk. # Read the message from BdU. New objectives always result in a notice box appearing, coupled with the sound of a drumbeat. While these are your current objectives, you will not yet see a green objective marker for either one. This is because there is an intermediary objective, you need to board the ship first! Instead you'll see a green objective marker with an up arrow on the conning tower. Walk across the gangway to the deck, walk around the tower until you find the ladder, and when the UI shows a ladder icon and "Climb Up", left click to climb up into the conning tower. You may see some other white UI symbols, don't worry about those for now, they are for indicating things you can use. We'll talk about those later. After climbing the tower, descend into the UBoat by climbing down the hatch. Click "Climb" and then use forward/backward (W/S) to climb up/down. You may need to click a closed hatch to open it first. The first ladder leads into the inside of the conning tower, then the next ladder down leads to the Control Room. At this point your two objective markers will appear. The first objective is to put your briefcase in your bunk. As you walk forward, you'll automatically duck to go through hatches and bulkheads. Walk to your bunk, and left click to place your briefcase. Note that objectives in your mission list can be completed in any order. Next up we have to read the message from BdU. BdU is the Supreme Commander of the Kriegsmarine's UBoat fleets. The message is contained in your ship's Journal, which can be accessed by clicking on the writing desk beside the Captain's bunk. Left click to open the Skipper's Log. The Log currently contains two entries, ordered by date. Under September 1939 we have Orders and Activity. Orders are messages from BdU related to your missions, including events that occurred during your mission such as sinking ships or reporting sightings. Activity is where you can write your own notes. If you click on Orders, you will see details of the current mission. 03 September 1939, Berlin Before noon on September 1, the transport vessel Falcon left the port in Edinburgh. We have information that a radar technology prototype has been loaded onto it. We have reasons to think that the ship was sunk on its original course on the North Sea as a result of sabotage. Your task is to find the wreckage, retrieve the equipment and if possible avoid being detected by the British units. We cannot be linked to the sabotage or attempts to seize the radar. Section View Once you have completed both objectives, the game will force you into "Section View", or 3PP (3rd person perspective). This is a "cut out" view that shows you the view from the starboard (right hand) side of the ship, with the walls removed so you can see inside. This view allows you to watch the action while an officer carries out your orders. The game is playable in either mode, so you can use one, the other, or a mix, depending on your preferences. The top bar in Section View has 6 status icons, and 5 menus. The status icons can be hovered over to see what things are currently impacting them (for example, when Diesel Engines are running, they will recharge the batteries). The first 4 will also indicate how long until filled/depleted. # Battery - Battery status and electricity consumption. Diesel engines recharge the battery, other devices drain it. # Fuel - Total fuel and operating range based on current consumption # Oxygen - Breathable air # Discipline - Officer's ability to control the crew. Low discipline may result in crew panic. # Reputation - Points earned from missions, can be spent on HQ upgrades, such as being able to research more than one new tech at a time, or bring more officers on board. # Budget - Credits earned through missions, researching caches, or reporting events such as ships spotted or sunk. Spent on supplies such as fuel, food and torpedoes, hire new crew, and to purchase available upgrades. The menus bring up various controls or switch to new menus/view. Details will be discussed later as they come up in the tutorial. # Telegraph - Used to request that the engine room set a screw speed. # Depth - Used to set requested depth. Shortcuts on right hand side are for Surface, Deck Awash, Periscope, and Max Safe Depth. # Rudder - Used to set requested rudder. # Map - Brings up the map view. # Menu - Opens the main menu, to access HQ (Research), Crew Roster, UBoatpedia, change settings or load/save/quit. On the right hand side we have our ship notifications. It can indicate all sorts of info that may need our immediate attention. You can hover the mouse over them for more info. These may come and go as the situation changes. The 4 shown to the right are: # Binoculars - Items our watch has detected and individually identified. Individual ships, wreckage, planes, and in the current case, the Wilhelmshaven Dock. Can be spotted visually, via radar detector, or through the hydrophone. # Groups - Vague groupings that have not been individually identified but that we've detected. Can be groups of 1+ ships, "Masts over the horizon", "Chimney smoke", groups of aircraft, propeller noises, radio contacts, etc. We're pretty sure something is there (or was reported to be there), and it will be marked on the map, we're not not 100% sure what it is yet. Might be trackable, might just be a last reported location. # Buoyancy - Our ship's current buoyancy. Positive means we float, neutral means we can move up and down using the dive planes, and negative means we're too heavy and will sink. # Stealth - How easy it is to spot us. Broken up into 3 categories. Sight, sound and radar. If we're close to being detected, this box will show a percentage. If we've been detected by the enemy, this will be a yellow box with an exclamation point. More on this later. Other icons can include panicked, injured or dead crew, damage to the uboat, incoming radio transmissions, unread messages, available missions, and compressed air. These will be covered later as they come up. Plotting a course and setting sail Our next objective is to open the map, so we can plot a course to the wreckage of the Falcon. This can be done using the "M" key, or by clicking the map button in Section View. In the upper left we have our current view level, location and date/time, and time compression settings (more on that later). On the left we have plotting tools (for making notes on the map), in the lower left we have shortcuts to various zoom levels, in the lower right we have our list of officers (currently only Herr Kohler is available to control), and in the upper right we have a status box, which includes our time at sea, current wind speed, our navigation error, depth and coordinates of the mouse pointer, and a button to centre the uboat in our view. The map can be left-clicked and dragged, use WASD, or use the mouse wheel to zoom in/out. Right click on the objective marker to set our first waypoint. Distance will be printed for that waypoint. For the next waypoint, you need to hold Shift as you right click, otherwise the AI will do it's best to plot a direct course. Keep holding adding waypoints, zooming out or scrolling if needed, until you have all four plotted. Once all four waypoints have been plotted, the game returns you to Section View to set sail by choosing second gear in the Telegraph. The outer handle and red arrow are the requested gear (5 forward, 4 reverse), the requested engine type (Diesel or Electric), the inner dial shows the actual engine gear (black indicator), the actual engine in use (green light beside diesel or electric), the available gears (greyed out ones are currently unavailable), and the ship's current speed. The Telegraph will also be tinged in red if we're in an alarm state (such as in range of an enemy). For now, left click on the Telegraph button to open it, and click on Forward 2 (as highlighted). The gangplank is removed, and we're on our way! Time Compression Now that we're under way, it's time to talk about Time Compression. The game switches to Orbit View, which allows us to rotate the view around the target, in this case our ship, using mouse left button drag, or WASD. Then they ask that we turn on time compression. The time compression controls are in the upper left of the UI, next to the camera mode, our location and date/time. There are 4 time compression modes. # Paused (not a true pause, more an extreme slow motion) # Normal (no compression selected) # Time Compression (x1) # Fast Travel (Time Compression x5) If you are in First Person mode, you may only select Paused or Normal, unless you're in Manual Mode at an assigned station (more on this later). If you are in an "Open Sea" area, time works differently, there is already a level of time compression, so Normal is not "real time". Time Compression settings will affect this new "Open Sea Time" as expected, so Time Compression x1 will be Open Sea Time, compressed. Fast Travel becomes available if you are in friendly or neutral areas. Time compression is also normally automatically disabled when you switch areas (such as approaching a shore, or when you encounter other vessels). The game asks you to set Fast Travel, and you can watch the uboat sail on until we reach the Open Sea. Interacting with crew and equipment Now that we're out of friendly seas and into the open ocean, it's time to talk about Task and interacting with the uboat and enlisted crew. This section can be completed in First Person, or in Section View. Kohler is currently in his bunk. His portrait shows that he is rested (the blue bar is full, with arrows showing that he is in a state that is increasing his energy), he has no crew assigned to assist him (two empty rectangles), he is an officer of the Leader class (more on classes later, suffice to say he can operate the periscope) and he is currently manually assigned to rest in his bunk (the circle shows a pillow, the yellow trim indicates you manually "stationed" him here when you put down the briefcase). It's time to get to work! You'll see white or green (indicating it's "turned on") icons on various things that show you what you can interact with. Some of the more common objects have their icons always visible, some are not so obvious, but if you hold down ALT you'll see everything. If it's purely informational, such as a ballast tank, the icon is a circle with an "i" in it. Hovering over it gives more information, such as whether you can use it, who's using it, and its status. Most equipment has a gear icon, most storage has a box icon, and most doors have a door icon. Specific stations may have their own custom icon, such as hydrophone or periscope. Use this opportunity to look around the uboat, examining various equipment, just be careful what you touch! Left clicking interacts in the default manner (depends on the item). Left clicking a Storage Locker opens it, clicking the pump turns it on or off, etc. Right clicking brings up a contextual menu, which can have 1 or more options depending on the object being interacted with. For example, the light switch in the Control Room; left clicking switches to the next lighting mode, right clicking brings up a menu where you can choose which mode you want. You've been given two new objectives: # Find and discipline sailors that don't do their duties. # Restock food in the galley. Tasks in First Person Mode Double click on Kohler's portrait, or select him and click the black eyeball symbol on his portrait to switch to his First Person view. Both objectives should be visible as green circles as before. Since he's currently assigned to his bunk "station", you'll need to click the "Leave" button, which will get him out of bed. From here you can use WASD and mouselook, hold shift to run, allowing you to move about the ship. Tasks in Section View Select Kohler by clicking on his portrait. If you want to jump the camera to his location, click the location icon (upsidedown teardrop) in his portrait. You can now scroll around the ship using WASD, or left mouse drag, and left click on things to interact with. In Section View you can hold CTRL to "queue up" actions, such as changing the lights, turning on the pump, and then manning the periscope. Not all tasks can be queued up because they require further interaction (such as opening the storage room in the Galley). Discipline Sailor The sailor in question has decided to take a nap in the Stern Torpedo Room, since it's not currently in use by other crew. The only equipment in here is the stern torpedo tube, the spare parts workshop, and the electric motors, so since we're using diesel he figured he'd be undisturbed. When you left click on him, you'll open a dialog box to decide how to discipline him. You have 4 choices: # Warning. The only punishment he'll receive is a tongue lashing from you. He gets back to work. # Toilet Cleaning. This provides a 5% boost to Discipline, and he will temporarily be unavailable while he scrubs the Aft Head (the toilet next to the Galley). # Arrest. This provides a 10% boost to Discipline, and the crewman is confined to his bunk for the duration of the trip. He is not available to do anything else until you return to port. # Execution. He is summarily shot, and buried at sea. This provides a 25% boost to Discipline. Restock Food Now that we've dealt with the napping sailor, it's time to visit the Galley. An army marches on its stomach, and the navy is no different. A well fed crew is a happy and efficient crew. In the Galley, click on the main storage to open up a view our stores. On the left you'll see the current supplies in the main Storage Room, on the right a view of what's in Kohler's backpack, which should be empty. From here you can drag up to 30kg of food from the stores into his backpack (a stack of 6 items), or because you are transferring to the Galley Storage, which is in the same room, you can click the "Galley" tab on the right, which will show the current contents of the Galley. Currently the Galley contains a stack of dried fish and a stack of potatoes. Great staple foods, and we do get a Discipline bonus of +4 for having 2 kinds of food in the Galley, but our crew deserve a treat. Drag the stack of Exotic Fruits over to the Galley, and you'll add a 3rd type of food, which increases our Discipline bonus to +8! However the downside is that we will consume food faster over time. After clicking the Exit button, closing the stores, you can hover the mouse over the Galley (pot) icon to see that at our current rate of consumption, your kitchen supply will last 13 days, for a total of 24 days including storage reserves. As food stacks are used up, the cook will automatically replenish an empty Galley from the Storage Room. If you have special items, you may want to restock manually to better manage your more expensive supplies! Some foods such as such as Exotic Fruits, or Sausages, provide a crew efficiency bonus, but are more expensive to replenish back in port. Approaching the Wreck Crank your time compression up to 5x, and we'll cruise along until we get close to our destination. Time compression will automatically shut off as we enter the area the wreck is believed to be located in. At this point our crew reports that they've detected "Masts over the horizon", and we get a "Visual Contact" on our Group icon. Until we spot the wreck visually though, we only know it's somewhere in this area. The game suggests we turn on the Searchlight to help with the search. It's mounted on the front of the Conning Tower. Increase the time compression again until we get even closer. Once an officer has spotted the wreck, it's time to use the map to plot an intercept course. Open the map, and click on the "Falcon Wreck". This will open an infobox with lots of potential information about our target. However most of it is currently "Unknown", marked with ? In the upper half we have a flag for the Nationality, the ship's name, and type. We haven't yet gotten close enough to identify anything except that it's a wreck, which means it has sunk. Below that is a green healthbar, which shows the overall health of the target, including an estimate of how flooded it is. Normally you can gauge how damaged a target is through this healthbar. In the middle we have a pair of binoculars, which means we have visual sight of this target. Other icons can indicate if it's on fire, if it's equipped with radar/sonar/hydrophone/radio, whether we can target it via hydrophone, whether it has spotted us, if the crew has abandoned ship, and whether it has been sunk. On the bottom left we have targeting data. Clockwise from top left we have distance, speed, angle on bow, and targeting solution. This is a percentage of how good a target lock we currently have from the officers that can "see" the target and are working on a firing solution. The four buttons in the bottom right are (from left to right): # Plot intercept course - based on target's speed and bearing, and our speed, plots an interception course. # Target camera - switch to an Orbit View of the target itself. # Assign targeting - Pick which officers who can "see" the target (through visual or hydrophone) will work on calculating a targeting solution. # Torpedo control - If solution is 50% or more, we can launch torpedoes at the target. For now, just click the Intercept button, which will plot a course to the wreck. Increase the time compression to 5x. Searching the Wreck As soon as you arrive at the wreck, the game pauses and says you should check out the cargo floating on the surface. However first we need to stop so we don't overshoot. Open the Telegraph and select "Stop", which cuts engine speed, allowing us to coast to a halt. Normally if you want to stop faster, you can throw the screws into reverse, but in the tutorial we stop right where we need to. On the surface you'll see crates and pontoons, flotsam from the wreckage. Your objective is to check 3 containers. Select Kohler. You can now left click on Wooden Chests, allowing you to preview the contents and decide if you want to bring them onto the deck. The tutorial will also tell you to try out your flashlight using "F". None of the containers has anything other than food, and once you have checked 3 different containers, we are told we need to hurry because warship masts have been spotted on the horizon! The game switches control to another officer lying in their bunk. Since we didn't find the equipment we came to find, it must be on the seabed down with the wreck. It's time to send down a diver! Select the new officer, and click on the Cabinet. Drag the Diving Suit to the backpack, and our chosen officer will get changed as our objective changes to "Send a diver". On the deck, you'll see an objective marker on the bow marked "Winch". This assigns the diver to attach a rope to the winch and diver down to the wreck of the Falcon. A progress bar will indicate that they are moving to the wreck, and then investigating the wreck, at which point you'll be asked what you want to do. Our only options here are return, and pull up a box. Click "pull up", so we can check its contents. The box will appear on the stern deck, allowing Kohler to take a look inside. Sure enough, there's our component! Drag it to his backpack, and once he fetches it, walk him down to the main storage to transfer it there. At this point you'll be asked to speak to the Captain. He's either on deck in front of the Conning Tower, or in the Galley, check your objective marker. DIVE, DIVE, DIVE! After you approach him, the Radioman will run up with a report, a destroyer has been spotted, and they're readying battle stations. We're under attack! You need to dive NOW, and unfortunately do not have the time to bring up your diver. The Captain orders you to cut the winch rope, abandoning your fellow officer to the depths. You may see the destroyer on the horizon, firing illumination shells, and armour piercing shots, one of which hits your conning tower! You are ordered to flood the ballast tanks and dive quickly. First step is to flood the tanks, letting water in to reduce the uboat's buoyancy. Go to the control room, clicking on the Valves. This will open the ballast tanks, allowing water to rush in. Next step is to set our depth to 50m. Open the depth control, and select 50m. The crew will seal the external hatches and prepare to dive. Will you manage to escape the destroyer? = MORE TUTORIAL INFO COMING SOON! Category:Game Concepts